Dog Problems is the second album and fourth release by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 band, The Format

The Format

The Format was an American indie rock band formed by Arizona natives Nate Ruess and Sam Means. The band announced a hiatus on February 4, 2008. Their style can be considered a mixture of indie, alternative, punk and folk music, with elements of 1960s and 1970s pop music...

. It was released on July 11, 2006, on The Vanity Label, The Format's own record label through their management company, Nettwerk

Nettwerk

The Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Management, Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk One Publishing, Nutone Records, and Artwerk. With over 150 employees, the Vancouver-based company has offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Boston, Nashville, and Hamburg...

. An MP3

MP3

MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...

 version of Dog Problems leaked to the internet almost two months before its official release date. In response, the entire album was immediately made available digitally for only $7.99, through the band's online music store

Online music store

An online music store is an online business which sells audio files, usually music, on a per-song and/or subscription basis. It may be differentiated from music streaming services in that the music store offers the actual music file, while streaming services offer partial or full listening without...

. The album was released in Japan on October 26, 2006, via Imperial Records. To celebrate the year anniversary of the release, the entire album was made available free from June 25 to July 15, 2007.

Track listing

All tracks written by Sam Means and Nate Ruess, except as noted.

1. "Matches" – 2:10
2. "I'm Actual" – 3:47
3. "Time Bomb" – 4:01
4. "She Doesn't Get It" – 3:51
5. "Pick Me Up" – 3:46
6. "Dog Problems" – 4:11
7. "Oceans" – 4:48
8. "Dead End" (Means, Linda Perry
   Linda Perry
   Linda Perry is an American rock musician, songwriter, and record producer. Once best known as the lead singer and primary songwriter of 4 Non Blondes, Perry has founded two record labels and has become a major songwriter and producer...
   
   , Ruess) – 4:08
9. "Snails" – 4:09
10. "The Compromise" – 3:27
11. "Inches and Falling" – 3:30
12. "If Work Permits" – 5:28

iTunes Exclusive Track

• "The Lottery Song" – 2:28 (Harry Nilsson
  Harry Nilsson
  Harry Edward Nilsson III was an American singer-songwriter who achieved the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. On all but his earliest recordings he is credited as Nilsson...
  
   cover
  Cover version
  In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
  
  )

Japanese Edition Bonus Track

• "Glutton of Sympathy" (Jellyfish
  Jellyfish (band)
  Jellyfish were a power pop band from San Francisco. It formed after Beatnik Beatch broke up in 1989. The core members were drummer/singer/songwriter Andy Sturmer and keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist/singer/songwriter Roger Joseph Manning, Jr...
  
   cover)

The Vanity Label

The Vanity Label is an imprint of Nettwerk, The Format's management company, which is owned and operated by Sam Means and Nate Ruess. Releasing Dog Problems through their own label allowed the band complete creative control, while still offering them national distribution through Sony BMG. The Format has also released a 7" single for the song "Time Bomb" and an iTunes exclusive And Now I Hope You're All Right – Live in California – EP on The Vanity Label. The album is yet to be released in the UK.

Singles

• "The Compromise"
• "Dog Problems"
• "She Doesn't Get It"

The first single from Dog Problems was "The Compromise", which was ironically written as a response to Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

 asking The Format to write a "hit single" prior to dropping them. The single was selected by popular vote, via a poll on The Format's website. When asked what the second single would be during a recent interview with Absolutepunk.net, Nate Ruess responded, "It had better be 'Time Bomb'." "Time Bomb" saw a UK release on 18 August 2006 on vinyl, coinciding with the band's tour of the UK supporting The All-American Rejects

The All-American Rejects

The All-American Rejects are an American rock band formed in Stillwater, Oklahoma in 1999. The band consists of lead vocalist and bass guitarist Tyson Ritter, lead guitarist, Nick Wheeler, rhythm guitarist, Mike Kennerty, and drummer Chris Gaylor....

.

Personnel

• Steven McDonald
  Steven Shane McDonald
  Steven Shane McDonald is the bass player in the Los Angeles alternative rock/power pop band Redd Kross. He is also a member of the hardcore punk band OFF!, which formed in late 2009. Other projects included The SMG and Green and Yellow TV - both were Los Angeles-based groups from the 2000s...
  
   – producer
  Record producer
  A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
  
  
• Ken Sluiter – engineer
• Tom Rothrock
  Tom Rothrock
  Tom Rothrock is an international record producer, composer and musician. Tom Rothrock has produced albums with James Blunt, Badly Drawn Boy, R. L. Burnside, Yonder Mountain String Band, Athlete, Sloan and Roman Carter....
  
   – mixer
  Audio mixing (recorded music)
  In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
  
   (tracks 1, 4, 6–12)
• Ken Sluiter – mixer (tracks 2, 3, 5)
• Mike Tarantino – mix engineer
• Don Taylor at Precision Mastering – mastering
  Audio mastering
  Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
  
  
• John Rummen – art direction
  Art director
  The art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....
  
  
• Sam Means – art
  Art
  Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
  
  
• Alex Fuller - advertising
  Advertising
  Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
  
  

Musicians

• Sam Means – piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  , keyboards
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
  , guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  s, "other fun instruments we had laying around"
• Nate Ruess – vocals, "a grain of synth"

"Matches"

• Joey Waronker
  Joey Waronker
  Joseph "Joey" Waronker is an American drummer and music producer. He is the son of record producer Lenny Waronker and singer/actress Donna Loren; his younger sister is musician Anna Waronker; and his grandfather is record executive and professional violinist Simon Waronker. He has three other...
  
   – percussion
  Percussion instrument
  A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
  
  

"I'm Actual"

• Josh Klinghoffer
  Josh Klinghoffer
  Joshua Adam "Josh" Klinghoffer is an American multi-instrumentalist, who is best known as the current guitarist for the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Klinghoffer replaced his friend and frequent collaborator John Frusciante, who left the band in 2009.Klinghoffer also fronts Dot Hacker, and was...
  
   – guitar
• Roger Manning Jr
  Roger Joseph Manning Jr.
  Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. is an American keyboard player and founding member of bands Jellyfish, Imperial Drag, The Moog Cookbook, and TV Eyes. He has also spent several years as an integral member of Beck's backing band, and made contributions to several recordings by the band Air. He is...
  
  . – orchestral arrangement
  Orchestration
  Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra or of adapting for orchestra music composed for another medium...
  
  
• John O'Riley – drums, percussion
• Don Raymond Jr. – bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Anna Waronker
  Anna Waronker
  Anna Jeanette Waronker is a singer/songwriter, composer, and producer best known as the former frontwoman of That Dog. She is the daughter of producer Lenny Waronker and actress/musician Donna Loren, the sister of session drummer Joey Waronker, and is married to Steven Shane McDonald of Redd...
  
   – vocals, vocal arrangements

"Time Bomb"

• Josh Klinghoffer – guitar
• Roger Manning Jr. – Wurlitzer
  Wurlitzer
  The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to simply as Wurlitzer, was an American company that produced stringed instruments, woodwinds, brass instruments, theatre organs, band organs, orchestrions, electronic organs, electric pianos and jukeboxes....
  
  
• Steven McDonald – bass guitar
• John O'Riley – drums, percussion
• Anna Waronker – vocals, vocal arrangements

"She Doesn't Get It"

• John O'Riley – drums, percussion
• Don Raymond Jr. – bass guitar
• Mike Schey – guitar

"Pick Me Up"

• John O'Riley – drums, percussion
• Don Raymond Jr. – bass guitar
• Mike Schey – guitar, slide guitar
  Slide guitar
  Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
  
  
• Aaron Wendt – Doppler

"Dog Problems"

• The Hobocamp Choir – gang vocals
• Roger Manning Jr. – orchestral arrangement
• Steven McDonald – bass guitar
• John O'Riley – drums, percussion

"Oceans"

• The Hobocamp Choir – gang vocals, claps
  Clapping
  A clap is the sound made by striking together two flat surfaces, as in the body parts of humans or animals. Humans clap with the palms of their hands, often in a constant drone to express appreciation or approval , but also in rhythm to match sounds in music and dance...
  
  
• Steven McDonald – backup vocals
• Don Raymond Jr. – bass guitar
• John O'Riley – drums, percussion
• Mike Schey – guitar
• Aaron Wendt – noise
  Noise
  In common use, the word noise means any unwanted sound. In both analog and digital electronics, noise is random unwanted perturbation to a wanted signal; it is called noise as a generalisation of the acoustic noise heard when listening to a weak radio transmission with significant electrical noise...
  
  

"Dead End"

• Josh Klinghoffer – guitar
• Steven McDonald – bass guitar
• John O'Riley – percussion
• Anna Waronker – vocals, vocal arrangements
• Joey Waronker – drums

"Snails"

• Roger Manning Jr. – orchestral arrangement, harpsichord
  Harpsichord
  A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
  
  
• Sean McCall – percussion
• John O'Riley – drums
• Don Raymond Jr. – bass guitar
• Mike Schey – guitar

"The Compromise"

• Steven McDonald – backup vocals
• Sean McCall – percussion
• John O'Riley – drums
• Don Raymond Jr. – bass guitar
• Mike Schey – guitar

"Inches and Falling"

• The Hobocamp Choir – gang vocals
• Sean McCall – percussion
• Don Raymond Jr. – bass guitar
• Mike Schey – guitar
• Joey Waronker – drums

"If Work Permits"

• John O'Riley – drums
• Don Raymond Jr. – bass guitar
• Mike Schey – guitar

Additional musicians

• Deborah Avery – clarinet
  Clarinet
  The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
  
  , sax
  Saxophone
  The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
  
  
• Peggy Baldwin – cello
  Cello
  The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
  
  
• J'Anna Jacoby – cello
• Randy Jones – tuba
  Tuba
  The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
  
  
• Johana Krejci – violin
  Violin
  The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
  
  
• Paul Loredo – French horn
  Horn (instrument)
  The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
  
  
• Jean Marianelli – French horn
• Rory Mazella – clarinet, sax
• Mike McGuffrey – trumpet
  Trumpet
  The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
  
  
• Jim McMillan – trombone
  Trombone
  The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
  
  
• Kethleen Robertson – violin
• Dave Ryan – trombone
• Roy Wiegand – trumpet
• Adriana Zoppo – viola
  Viola
  The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...